Marcus was seated in his bed at a comfortable angle if you didn't take into account his arms were still in casts. Not his full arms anymore at least. The other day Hongo trimmed them down and they now only covered his forearms, along with his wrists.

While it still wasn't the full range of motion he was used to. Being able to feed himself again was a godsend and he would never take it for granted again. Well it would be, if his caretaker didn't pout so much when he refused and tried to do it himself.

Marcus let out a tired sigh before he said, “Alright, you can help me eat. But this is the last time.”

“No. I promised to take care of you till you get better.” Uta said as she glared at him.

“Okay, then just until my casts are off.”

Uta pouted again as she said, “No, until you’re all better.”

Marcus wanted to argue more but they've already had this conversation a handful of times and it always went the same way. With an exhausted sigh Marcus gave up as he said, “Fine, just do whatever you want.”

“Great!” Uta said as she finally placed the tray of food down on Marcus's lap.

Marcus frowned at the bowl of soup as he asked, “Can I at least get some meat?”

“This is what Hongo told me you needed to eat… But that was also when you first woke up. So I’ll ask him later if you can have other food.”

Uta sat down close to Marcus on the bed before she picked up the spoon and scoped up some soup. She leaned a little closer to him and tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear as she gently blew on the spoon before she said, “Alright, say ahh.”

Marcus tried his best to not roll his eyes as Uta fed him the first spoonful of food. It took a little while since Uta didn't let him eat like he normally would. If Marcus could, he would have up-ended the bowl into his mouth and drank it all before he stuffed some meat in afterwards to wash it down. Unfortunately Hongo had him on a very lite diet of soups and other things because he said it was good for healing…

Obviously the guy wasn't a real doctor otherwise he would know that eating enough meat can fix everything. At least it seemed to work when he trained with his grandpa, but Hongo wouldn't listen and Uta watched him like a hawk so he couldn't sneak any food from his brothers. So this ended up being his life for the past couple weeks as they sailed back home.

After Uta finished feeding him and wiped his face gently with a napkin. She looked at his face with the hint of a blush as she shyly asked, “How was it?”

Marcus leaned closer to Uta and whispered next to her ear, “It was delicious. But more importantly, thanks for feeding me Uta, I have no idea what I would do without you.”

Uta’s face and neck flushed completely scarlet as she jumped up from the bed and pointed at Marcus as she said, “You. You, idiot!”

She quickly grabbed the food tray and bolted out the door as Marcus smiled widely. While he would rather feed himself, teasing Uta at least made up for it, so maybe he shouldn't complain.

A few minutes after Uta left someone knocked on the door before Marcus said, “Come it.”

The door opened before Shanks and Benn stepped inside the room as Shanks asked, “What's going on with Uta?”

“No clue, but she just called me an idiot. So I probably did something wrong again.” Marcus said with a smirk.

Shanks shook his head slightly as he asked, “Since you're feeling better, mind if we talk for a bit?”

Marcus gestured to the only chair in the room as he said, “Sure, not like I can do much else currently. Doctors orders and all that.”

Shanks pulled the seat out from the desk and sat on it with his arms resting on the backrest of it as he asked, “How did you know something was gonna happen to Uta… And don't give me that, ‘you saw it in a dream’ crap again.”

Marcus shrugged helplessly as he said, “Dream, vision, hallucination, take your pick. Whatever you wanna call it, I had one.”

“Have you had those types of things before?”

Marcus nodded his head as he said, “A few times.”

“If we didn't stop Uta, what would have happened?” Benn asked.

Marcus frowned as he said, “That monster would have rampaged across the island and killed everyone except Gordon, Uta and your crew.”

Marcus turned to Shanks and locked eyes with the man as he said, “And you would have left Uta there, so you could take the blame for killing everyone and she wouldn't think she was responsible. Which is extra stupid because it would have been the monster's fault and not hers in the first place.”

“I would never abandon Uta.” Shanks said with a little bit of heat in his voice.

“You say that now, but you did it in my dream. But since the rampage never happened, I guess we don’t have to worry about that now do we?”

Shanks frowned as he glanced at the floor for a while in contemplation before he asked, “Have you had any other dreams recently?”

“Yeah, a few of them.”

Shanks looked up at Marcus as he asked, “Any you want to share?”

“Sure, but it'll cost you.” Marcus said with a smile.

“What do you want?”

“Get me some meat. I’m tired of eating all this damn soup.” Marcus said with a frown.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Shanks started to chuckle before he said, “You’re really gonna trade what could possibly be considered a glimpse of the future for some meat?”

Marcus shrugged as he said, “Uta and my brothers call me an idiot.”

Shanks glanced up to Benn as he said, “Go get the kid some meat.”

After Benn left the room Shanks asked, “Can you swim?”

Marcus smirked as he asked, “Is that your way of asking if I've eaten a devil fruit?”

“First haki and now you know about devil fruits. I didn't think Garp would be reckless enough to tell you so much when you’re still young.”

Marcus shook his head with a smile as he said, “You don’t know my grandpa very well then… But still, gramps didn't tell me about it, I found out about them from my dreams. I'm still not sure what haki is exactly, but I have a decent idea what devil fruits are and the different types.”

Shanks studied Marcus for a while before he said, “Tell me about the other dreams you've had.”

“The ones that haven't happened? Or the ones that involve you?”

Shanks’s eyebrows raised the slightest bit as he asked, “You've had more dreams that involve me?”

“The last three I had all involved you in some way. Uta’s and that monster was the first one.” Marcus said.

“And the other two?”

Marcus turned to look out the small open window of the cabin for a minute before he said, “I see you at Makino’s with Luffy beside you. There's a small, unlocked treasure chest on the bar counter with a devil fruit inside of it.”

Marcus smiled to himself as he said, “Luffy asks to join your crew and right after you reject him again, a small-time bandit group comes into the bar and causes a scene because there's no more alcohol.”

Marcus turned back towards Shanks and said, “Instead of fighting with the group, you show Luffy how to be a bigger man and a proper pirate.”

Marcus goes quiet for a while to let Shanks think about what he told him before the door opened up and Benn stepped inside with a tray of food. Marcus's eyes almost sparkled and he drooled a little bit as Benn placed the tray full of meat down on his lap.

Marcus placed his hands together before he said, “Itadakimasu!”

Marcus picked up a large roast chicken leg and shoved it into his mouth as he practically moaned in delight before he started to eat in earnest. Shanks and Benn watched as Marcus devoured all the food in minutes before he leaned back against his beds headboard and let out a satisfied belch.

A hint of a smile graced Shanks’s face as he said, “I've only seen Lucky eat like that before.”

“That's nothing. You should see Luffy eat after a training session with gramps. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even chew his food before he swallows it.”

“Hopefully that doesn't happen. I don't think Garp would be too happy if he found out I let you get hurt. Or that we've been hanging around you kids, if I'm being honest.” Shanks said.

Marcus shrugged as he said, “Maybe, but Grandpa is pretty lax about certain things. Especially since you and the rest of your crew have been sparring with us regularly.”

“He might be upset if he learned you invited me to join your crew though. He’s really set on me and my brothers joining him in the marines.” Marcus said with a smirk.

“Is that why you keep rejecting my offer? You want to be a marine?”

Marcus shook his head as he said, “I thought about it before, but I don’t want to be another person's hunting dog. No, I will be a bounty hunter, until someone labels me a pirate for doing the right thing.”

Shanks shifted his gaze, lost in thought for a few moments before Marcus asked, “You want to know about the other dream I had?”

“Sure, let's hear it.”

Marcus turned back to face the window for a few moments before he said, “I see Luffy in the water about to be attacked by the small sea king that hangs around Foosha Village.”

“You jump in to save him…” Marcus's voice trails off as he stares out the window for a while with an unfocused gaze.

After a bit he turned to Shanks as he said, “You sacrifice your arm to save Luffy before you give him your hat for some reason.”

Shanks's eyebrows raised as Benn said, “There's no way something like that would happen.”

Marcus shrugged helplessly as he said, “I'm just telling you what I saw in my dreams. Whether or not you believe me is up to you.”

Shanks went quiet for a while before he asked, “Did you see anything else?”

“No, that was the last one that involved you or your crew.”

“I see.” Shanks said as someone knocked on the door.

A moment later the door opened wide and Uta walked inside with a small tray of food as she said, “Marcus! I talked to Hongo and he said…” Uta’s voice trailed off as she took in the room.

She glanced from Shanks to Benn, then finally turned her gaze to Marcus. She immediately noticed the empty food tray covered in bones on his lap and the grease around Marcus’s mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she asked in a frigid tone, “Were you just eating?”

“No?” Marcus said in a very unconvincing tone of voice as he quickly looked in the opposite direction.

Uta’s now icy gaze shifted to Shanks who shared a glance with Benn before he asked, “Didn’t you say we needed to check that thing earlier?”

Benn quickly nodded as he said, “Yeah, we should probably go do that.”

Shanks got up and moved towards the door as he said, “It was nice chatting with you Marcus.”

Benn grabbed the tray on Marcus’s lap and moved to follow Shanks as he said, “Thanks for holding my food tray Marcus.”

After the door closed Uta dropped the food tray on Marcus’s lap as she said, “You broke your promise!”

Marcus turned to see Uta with her hands on her hips and her cheeks puffed out as she glared at him. Marcus wanted to reach over and pinch her cheeks but let out a sigh before he said, “I didn’t promise anything.”

“You said I could feed you till you’re all better.” Uta said as she stomped her right foot on the ground.

“No, I told you, just do whatever you want.”

“That’s the same thing!” Uta said with a huff.

“No it’s…” Marcus let out another exhausted sigh before he pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Fine. You’re right, I broke my promise.”

Uta sat down on the bed next to Marcus as she said, “I forgive you, but now I get to feed you even after you're all healed.”

“What? No way!” Marcus said as he turned to look at Uta in shock.

Uta pouted at him again before she said, “But you broke your promise. You have to make up for it.”

Marcus knew there was no way he could let Uta feed him the rest of the time they were together. His brothers ate like maniacs and he ended up just like them so they didn’t eat all the food before he had his fill. If Uta tried to feed him at every meal…

He would always be hungry!

Well maybe he could just have Makino make food just for him and then Uta could feed him…

A few moments later an idea came to Marcus and he knew exactly what he needed to do, so he locked eyes with Uta as he said, “Once I’m better, you can feed me all you want… But you can only feed me stuff you’ve cooked yourself, so that means you need to get lessons from Luck or big sis Makino.”

Resolve firmed in Uta’s eyes as she stuck her hand out with her pinky extended and asked, “You pinky promise?”

Marcus locked his pinky with Uta’s as he said, “As long as you learn how to cook.”

“Okay.” Uta said as they shook pinkies.